Falls Church, Virginia (11/3/2022) – On November 2, 2022, the Ethiopian federal government and the TPLF agreed to a permanent cessation of hostilities as part of the African Union (AU)-led peace talks in South Africa. OLLAA joined the many voices of the international community, including the United States, in welcoming the announcement of a peace agreement, and expressed our hopes that this could provide a crucial first step towards resolving the numerous conflicts throughout Ethiopia.
Today, the text of the draft agreement for the cessation of hostilities between the TPLF and the Ethiopian government was released (available below). OLLAA recognizes that this agreement contains many positive provisions, including ones that call for the protection of civilians’ human rights, the provision of humanitarian assistance, and facilitates the removal of Eritrean forces from Ethiopia. We also recognize that this draft agreement is between the TPLF and the Ethiopian government, and therefore, cannot comprehensively address the crucial concerns of all parties throughout Ethiopia. At the same time, we remain gravely concerned that this agreement will lead the international community to ignore crises throughout the rest of the country in favor of brokering peace in the north.
OLLAA has long advocated that an inclusive dialogue process, which includes representatives from all major ethnic and political groups and is led by a neutral arbiter, will be necessary to address the roots of conflicts throughout Ethiopia and lay the groundwork for lasting peace. The draft agreement fails to call for such an inclusive dialogue, and instead calls for the TPLF and the Ethiopian government to have a “political dialogue to find lasting solutions to the underlying political differences between them.” We do note, positively, that article 10(3) of the draft agreement calls for the establishment of a “comprehensive national transitional justice policy,” which is to be developed “with inputs from all stakeholders, and civil society groups.” Such a transitional justice policy, if properly applied across Ethiopia, could include an inclusive dialogue process, provide victims of human rights violations access to justice, and help to lay the groundwork for lasting peace and regional stability. At the same time, this process is to be developed and led by the Ethiopian government, and therefore is likely to face the same challenges as the Ethiopian-led national dialogue process, which has been rendered ineffective due to the fact that the Ethiopian government is not seen as a trusted or transparent body by many Ethiopian political parties, and because of its failure to include all relevant stakeholders.
OLLAA is also concerned that this agreement will ultimately lead to further targeting of Oromo civilians throughout Ethiopia, as the international community’s attention continues to be drawn to crises in other countries, such as Ukraine. As part of the agreement, the Ethiopian government will lift its designation of the TPLF as a terrorist organization, leaving the OLA the only group with that designation inside Ethiopia. Following the announcement of a humanitarian truce between the TPLF and the Ethiopian government this spring, we saw an increase in violence against Oromo civilians as the Ethiopian federal government and Oromia regional governments launched a new military operation inside Oromia, ostensibly aimed at eliminating the OLA. Given recent reports of drone attacks throughout Oromia, and longstanding reports of the Ethiopian government targeting ordinary Oromo civilians due to purported, and often tenuous, connections to the OLA, we are seriously concerned that this decision will lead to the increase in attacks in the coming months.
OLLAA therefore calls on the international community, and particularly the AU, to pay equal attention to and condemn violations throughout southern Ethiopia, and particularly in Oromia, as it has in the northern regions. The international community must also ensure that this peace agreement is not the final measure towards addressing the complex and interrelated crises that are occurring throughout Ethiopia. The transitional justice measures alluded to in this agreement must be country-wide and led by a neutral body, such as the AU, if they are to be successful. We reiterate our call for the formation of a truly inclusive dialogue and transitional justice process in order to lay the groundwork for genuine peace across the entire country.
OLLAA is an umbrella organization that works in collaboration with dozens of Oromo communities around the world.